My Sunshine, My Strength
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Matsumoto Rangiku feels she's done nothing for the child she gave birth to. In Hitsugaya Toshiro's mind Matsymoto Rangiku represents a woman of great strength, and he feels he owes her his life. The child taicho finds himself more concerned with memories which may just be blatant fulfillment on his part, and if said memories are real Toshiro must reconcile with various fears.
1. Introspection

_Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach. This was written for Wattpad's JustWriteIt challenge for May 2015. The theme was to write a story with at least ten-thousand words about a strong mother figure._

 **My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Introspection_**

 _To those concerned..._

 _I'm honestly not sure where to start off what I feel I need to say. I guess I should start off with the fact I've messed up, and I don't know how to fix things. I find myself wondering why things ended up this way, but I also don't remember and that is part of the problem._

 _How can a mother not remember her own child?_

 _I guess some people would use that as an excuse. Not remembering is an excuse for abandoning him as an infant. Not remembering is an excuse for not ever being in his life. Not remembering is an excuse for never being in that precious child's life. Not remembering is an excuse for not acting as a mother even after I did become a part of his life._

 _Not remembering is not an excuse for pretending later on one still doesn't remember. Not remembering is not an excuse for not telling him the truth once I did remember. Not remembering..._

 _Some things don't make up for what's been lost by myself and what's been lost by that precious child. I could have held that child's hand as he grew up preventing him from facing as much pain. Instead he ended up alone and isolated with very few to care for him. Yes. He ended up being raised by a strong woman who ended up shaping him into a wonderful young gentleman._

 _I didn't play a role in the way he's ended up._

 _I guess that isn't important though. I can't brush away this ache about how much I missed of him growing up, and how much I am missing because he doesn't know I'm his mother. I wanted to hold that child's hand when he was little, and I want to hold his hand now. This child though is growing up to fast, and I think I may be to late._

 _To those concerned..._

 _I think I'm to late._

 _\- From Matsumoto Rangiku_


	2. The Secrets We Keep

Two bright teal eyes fluttered open to look up at the ceiling of the tenth division captain's office. The young taicho felt a sharp pain in his neck, and he found himself struggling to move into a position where his head no longer leaned back. Toshiro reached on hand up to rub his neck as his bright teal eyes blinked again. A sigh escaped his lips as he finally leaned forward to see the stacks of paper sitting on his desk.

A soft snore caused the young taicho to turn his neck to see Matsumoto Rangiku sitting at her desk with her head in her arms. Toshiro sighed again as he pushed himself up from his seat, and he headed over to the couch to grab the blanket which Rangiku normally draped over him when he took his afternoon naps. The youth headed over to her desk and draped the blanket over her shoulders hoping she wouldn't wake up. The woman stirred as the blanket touched her shoulder. "Toshiro..."

The young taicho flinched as he watched the female fukutaicho stir in her sleep. Toshiro's mouth twisted down as he heard the woman speak. " _She_ _referred_ _to me by my first name, and not my title._ "

"I'm sorry."

" _For not doing your share of the paperwork?_ "

" _I don't think that's what she means._ "

Toshiro sighed at his zampaktuo spirits words. " _No. I don't think so either. Beyond that she really has nothing to apologize for you._ "

"...never done anything good for ya."

This time the young taicho flinched. " _Come on Matsumoto. You've done plenty for me. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. I've lost track of the number of times you've saved my life._ " The boy looked away from the woman as a feeling hit the pit of his stomach. " _I wish you were my real mother._ "

Toshiro swallowed before looking away. The child taicho closed his hand before heading back to his desk, but he couldn't shake the strange feeling which bothered him since the end of the Winter War. Now another war had come and gone, and the feelings and thoughts which kept passing his mind simply wouldn't go away. " _It's just figments of my imagination. Isn't that what my age group does? We imagine things and make up stories?_ "

" _I thought you didn't think of yourself as a child._ "

" _I don't. I can't._ _I can't shake the idea I'm imagining things._ " The young taicho turned his head towards the woman as she napped at her desk. " _I think I'm just desperate for her to be my real mother._ "

The white haired youth swallowed and looked down at his papers before balling his hands into fists. The sudden urge to run over came the young taicho, and the child shunpooed out of the room. The child Shinigami didn't know where he was heading, but eventually he stopped on one of the old fashioned roofs and knelt down burying his head in the arms which crossed his knees. " _I'm way to much like him to be a coincidence._ "

" _You are your own person young master. You shouldn't compare yourself to him like this._ "

Hyorinmaru's words caused Toshiro to tilt his head up to examine where he ended up. " _I still ran away like he always did. I don't really understand why I get this sudden urge to run, and keep running. I think Matsumoto's noticed, and I don't think she likes it._ "

" _She doesn't like it because she worries about you._ "

One thin hand reached up to run through the white head of hair as Toshiro let out a deep sigh of frustration. The buildings taken away to be replaced by the Quincy's buildings came back once the leader of the Quincy found himself defeated, but the buildings ruined before the transfer didn't come back. The Shinigami choose to rebuild the majority of the buildings, but in this particular place they decided to build a place for the Quincy who survived the war.

" _The words survive are a farce. How many of us were revived by Inoue or some other means?_ " Toshiro leaned forward. " _I doubt he would have cared about what happened to me and Matsumoto during the war._ "

" _That is not something you could possibly know young master._ "

Toshiro blinked a couple of times as a few Quincy moved about below without noticing him. These Quincy were lower ranked, and not any of the ones he found himself fighting against during the war. The young taicho's chin rested against his arms. " _If he cared about me at all... well, he certainly wouldn't have done any of the things he did. What really bothers me is Matsumoto's still... well, you know._ "

" _You're referring to the fact she can't forget about him._ "

" _No. I'm referring to the fact she's still in love with him. He treated her like crap, and obviously he never loved her if he had a child with another woman._ "

" _Perhaps that is the real reason you want to believe your memories are just a figment of your imagination._ "

Toshiro's bright teal eyes narrowed quickly, but before he could think about what his zampaktuo a voice broke his train of thought. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The child Shinigami turned his head to look up at the man who spoke to him and discovered the man was the Mowhawked fire user who seriously injured him during the war. "I'm hiding."

One of the man's eyebrows rose up as he watched the boy. "Really? You're not hiding very well. Did someone send you to spy on us."

"I never said I am hiding from you." Toshiro quickly stood up and dusted off his uniform. The young taicho swallowed as he found himself unable to look the man in the eye.

"Then who."

The child taicho's mouth opened and words came out unhindered again. "My fukutaicho."

"Yes, but why did you come here of all places."

"I don't have an answer for that. I just simply ran, and this is where I stopped. I'd ask if you had an answer, but I don't think you actually have an answer for me."

The man let out a sigh as he crossed his arms. "About your fukutaicho..."

"If you're interested in her romantically like everybody else seems to be..." Toshiro felt his mouth twist up. "She's still in love with a man who's dead. I also wish to note that she may dress the way she does, but that's all an act."

"You're a really weird kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"You take more issue with being called a kid then being called weird?"

"I am weird."

The man let out a sigh and stuck his hands into his pocket. "Do you remember my name?"

Toshiro's bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times before moving one of his feet against the traditional roofing titles causing a slight clicking sound to be heard. "Your name? I do remember."

"Then what is it?"

The young taicho's jaw drop. "Honestly, I do remember. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"You never told me your last name."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"It's just that..." Toshiro felt his shoulders suddenly tense up as the urge to run away again came over him.

" _Call him by his first name._ "

" _He's an adult, and that isn't polite._ "

"I get it. You don't like me. Not that I can really blame you."

Two bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times. "No! You actually remind me of my former taicho."

A smirk spread across the man's face. "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

"It's both now that I think about it."

A laugh escaped the other man's face. "All right. What was your former taicho's name?"

"Shiba." The words came out of Toshiro's mouth

The smile left the man's face. "Shiba? Isn't Shiba one of Soul Societies noble clans? What's his actual name?"

"Shiba is his name."

"Uh-huh." The man rocked back on his heals. "What is the name of your fukutaicho?"

"Matsumoto. I end up yelling her name more then I like."

One of the man's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't need to know you yell at her a lot." The corners of his mouth twisted back up. "What's the name of the orange haired creep from the world of the living?"

"Kurosaki isn't a creep."

"What are the names of the sixth division taicho and his sister?"

The color quickly left Toshiro's face as realization hit him in regards to what the man was doing. "Kuchiki and Kuchiki."

"Do you call anyone by their first name?"

Toshiro's mouth opened for a few seconds before snapping shut. His cheeks suddenly heated up. "It's none of your business if I do."

"You don't have any friends do you?"

The young taicho's head snapped around. "I do have a friend!"

"Who?"

"Kurosaki's sister Kurosaki!" The young taicho's thin hands quickly balled into fists, and his cheeks puffed out slightly.

The man simply stared at him for a few minutes. Toshiro watched as the man reached out a calloused hand to grab the top of his head and involuntarily he found himself flinching. The man also leaned over so his face was closer to his own. "Can you say my name once?" The child Shinigami twisted his head to the side as his jaw tensed up. "You aren't afraid of me are you?"

"I'm honestly not sure."

"At least your honest." The man pulled back so he stood straight up, but he didn't remove his hand from Toshiro's head. "I simply want you to confirm you're not lying about remembering my name."

The young taicho looked at the man out of the corner of the bright teal eye closest to the man. "Bazz-B. Your name is Bazz-B."

Bazz-B let go of Toshiro's head and let out a sigh indicating he was content. "Was that so hard?" The child Shinigami opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head. His mouth clamped shut, and he continued avoiding the man's gaze. "That's alright. About your fukutaicho though..."

"You can't date her!" The child's bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times.

"I wasn't..." The man frowned at her. "You don't have a crush on her do you. Because that is completely..."

"I don't! I just..." Toshiro felt the color leave his cheeks, and suddenly he was off again as the urge to run over took him.


	3. Ice Cold Rain

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Ice Cold Rain_**

The young taicho didn't know where he was heading yet again. Instead he knew the feeling of running kept various feelings and thoughts at bay. The first cognitive sensation he felt was a few cold rain drops splattering against his hot, sweaty skin. He then felt a twinge in his lungs indicating he over exerted himself, and he found himself forced to slow down. The feelings and thoughts which were kept at bay by the running began to resurface, and he swallowed just as the rain began to pour down harder. He blinked a couple of times when he finally stopped.

In front of him was the door to the tenth division office. Letting out a sigh he slid the door opened and stepped in. Water dripped off of his body, and his jaw clenched knowing what would come if his fukutaicho already woke up. His bright teal eyes darted over to the desk where his fukutaicho sat as the corners of his mouth deepened. Rangiku's eyes darted up upon hearing the door slide open, and her mouth was twisted into a deep frown.

The busty female quickly moved from the desk, and stood in front of the young taicho as he continued to drip on the floor. Both of her hands grabbed his shoulders lightly, but then after a few minutes one of her hands reached up to brush away a strand of hair dangling down into his teal eyes. "Taicho..."

Toshiro swallowed as his eyes darted away so he wouldn't look her in the eye. " _I don't think she's happy with me._ "

" _You're standing in front of her dripping wet. Of course he'll be upset._ "

"Sweetheart..." Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "Where have you been?"

"I..."The young taicho felt one corner of his mouth briefly turn down farther. " _I think if I tell her she is going to be even more upset with me._ "

" _Why? You weren't doing anything wrong._ "

" _It feels like I am doing something wrong._ "

Rangiku blinked a couple of times before attempting to brush the white lock of hair away again. "Hey... you come in here soaking wet, and now you're trying to avoid telling me where you are."

"Matsumoto..." Toshiro felt a sharp pulling at his throat as he swallowed again. His head darted slightly to the side. "You're not my mother."

A sound similar to a sigh came from the ice dragon within the young taicho's inner world. " _Young master. I know you just said she's not your mother, but you distinctly think of her this way._ "

" _The fact I think of her that way doesn't mean she thinks of me as a son. Plus..._ " Toshiro moved his tongue slightly in frustration. " _... I don't want her to know about him._ "

"About that..." The woman stopped speaking, and when she started speaking again her voice strained. "Does it really matter whether I am your real mother or not?"

The young taicho relaxed slightly, but the feeling of dread regarding _that_ possible memory involving _that_ person didn't allow him to relax. Hyorinmaru piped up again. " _Why are you fighting back the feeling of wanting to treat her like your mother? You respect her that much, and she did save us many times._ "

" _I told you. This involves him._ "

A sigh from Rangiku drew him back to reality. The woman brushed at the lock of white hair again. His fukutaicho continued to frown. "Where were you?"

"I..." Toshiro swallowed yet again, and his hands clenched at his sides.

" _She won't stop asking until you tell her._ "

"I was over by the Quincies."

"Why?"

"I don't know." The young taicho heard a sigh escape from Rangiku's mouth causing his head to dart up, and for him to finally look her in the eyes. "I really don't know."

The fukutaicho of the tenth remained silent for short period allowing the young taicho to fidget slightly. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes."

Toshiro suddenly flinched before trying to pull away. Rangiku's hand's went back to his shoulders and she tugged him further inside out of the rain. The young taicho's mouth opened and closed a few times as her hands shifted to his back in order to give him a quick shove. The woman then slid the door shut while Toshiro turned around and opened his mouth. "Wait..."

"What?" The woman's voice remained chipper.

"You want me to change _here_?"

"There are uniforms in the cupboard."

"None of the spare uniforms are my size. They're all to big." The young taicho shook his hands and shivered at the thought of long sleeves getting in the way.

"It's just until your uniform is dry. Please..." Rangiku's hand brushed at the wet lock of hair again. "The last thing I want is for you to get sick taicho."

Toshiro quickly shook his head and tried pulling away. His mouth twisted up into a frown, and a heat built up at the tips of his ear. "No... you're asking me to change in front of you."

"No. I'll turn my back. I'll also make sure nobody comes into the room." The woman turned towards the cupboard with the uniforms, and Toshiro darted for the door. The female quickly grabbed the youth's arm causing him to nearly fall over. "Don't! If you don't change yourself I will undress and dress you myself! You know I won't hesitate."

The young taicho froze up as his throat tensed up once again. " _Why? Why is she doing this?_ "

" _Because she cares. You've known for some time that she cares, and yet you find yourself fighting the urge to call her mother. She wants to be your mother._ "

"Come on, you'll catch cold."

"I won't catch cold." Toshiro swallowed in an attempt to relieve the tension in his throat. " _Will she want to be my mother if she finds out Gin cheated on her? I know I wouldn't want to look at myself._ "

"Yeah right."

" _You're not wanting to look at yourself period because doing so reminds you of him._ "

Toshiro let out a sigh. "Hyorinmaru says I should listen to you."

Rangiku's eyelashes fluttered, and then a smile appeared on her face. She let go of his arm and headed over to the cupboard to remove the over sized uniform. She set the clothing on the back of the small couch next to the blanket she sometimes draped over him, and he realized she'd moved it back when she woke up. The strawberry blond female leaned forward and plucked a kiss on his forehead causing the young taicho's cheeks to heat up along with the tips of his ears.

"You should listen to your zampaktuo more often. Hyorinmaru's just looking out for you."

The young taicho's head darted up to look the woman in the face as his facial features twisted up in confusion. "You never listen to Haineko."

"I..." Rangiku blinked a couple of times before looking away and swallowing in a visible manner. "No. I tend not to listen to her. She does tend to insult me you know."

"Why?"

A laugh escaped the woman's lips as she placed her hands onto Toshiro's shoulders. "Don't you worry about that. Get changed. I'll go guard the door."

" _You could sneak out the window._ "

" _You pretty much told me to let her take care of me._ " The young taicho began to strip of the clothing heavy with rain water and let it drop straight to the ground.

" _Doesn't change the fact you are uncomfortable._ "

" _Are you trying to test me._ " Toshiro shivered as he stripped of everything but his underwear before reaching over to pull on the adult sized uniform. Things went well until he attempted to tie the uniform front closed, and he fount the long sleeves got in the way. The young taicho swallowed. "Matsumoto."

"What is it taicho?"

"Could you come here..."

"I thought you wanted me to watch the door and keep my back turned."

The child taicho swallowed, and as he spoke he heard his voice crack. "I kind of... I really need your help."

Toshiro closed his eyes as he heard Rangiku step over, and he then felt her quickly tie the robes together. Her voice caused two teal eyes to snap open. "Sorry... I didn't realize how over sized the smallest uniform would be. We should start carrying smaller uniforms."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. There is also no sense in keeping smaller uniforms in the closet when I'd be the only one using them. Plus – they're for emergencies."

Rangiku smiled as she reached out and pinched his nose causing the young taicho to suddenly go cross eyed at the unexpected reaction. "This was an emergency, or do you think as captain you'll never be in one."

"Matsumoto..." Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "Are you drunk?" He watched as the woman's face fell. "What?"

"I'm actually not drunk. I've not..." Rangiku pulled back and stood up straight. Her tone also became more serious. "Never mind." She pushed him down onto the couch and proceeded to pull the blanket over him. "Does it really matter whether I'm your real mother or not?"

The young taicho let out a sigh of frustration as his head hit the pillow at the one end of the couch. After a few seconds his answer came. "No, but I also don't want to talk about it. Please."

Toshiro blinked a couple of times as he heard a sigh come out of Rangiku's mouth and after a short period of time he looked up to see she was returning to her desk. The woman had the same look she did after the Winter War – when that person suddenly left her life. The child taicho turned his head away as the guilty feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.


	4. A Mother's Snapshots

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _A Mother's Snapshots_**

" _Listen to me._ " Haineko purred in the back of Rangiku's mind. " _You need to tell the boy the truth about what you remembered._ "

Rangiku's fingers drummed against the desk as she refused to look at the young taicho busying himself with the paperwork on his desk. " _Exactly what am I to say to him Haineko?_ "

" _The truth as I've already said._ "

The female fukutaicho of the tenth division pinched the bridge of her nose before pulling her fingers slightly down in order to releave the stress she felt from having such a conversation with her zampaktuo spirit. " _The question isn't so much what I have to say to him as saying the truth is the obvious answer. The question is about what words are the best to use. Taicho... he's always been apt to take things the wrong way and I don't want him to hate me._ "

" _No matter what you say he's going to hate you._ "

The strawberry blond blinked a couple of times at this statement. " _You really don't get what I'm saying do you? There is a difference between him hating me and him simply being angry with me._ _I really have no excuses for not being in his life._ "

" _One Ichimaru Gin, manipulative bastard that he is... that's a good enough excuse._ "

" _Stop. This doesn't erase the fact I've not done one single thing a mother should do for their child._ "

" _You're just wallowing in self-pity and don't want him to confirm the fact you're a bad mother. In case you haven't looked at yourself in awhile you aren't mother material. You dress inappropriately, and you drink all the time. You never, ever do your paperwork._ "

" _I've not touched a drop of sake in three days. I'm seriously working on... well, something._ "

" _He's a smart child, and he'll figure out on his own eventually. When that happens he'll be even more angry with you._ "

Rangiku pushed the sound of the zampaktuo's voice to the back of her head as she began to nod off. When she woke up she felt the blanket draped around her shoulders. A soft rain fell outside of the window as she looked up to see where the small taicho was. The youth wasn't at his desk. She stood up as she let out a sigh as she headed to the couch and folded up a blanket. On hand went to her mouth as she looked at the window. " _He's running again. He's running like his father did._ "

" _You don't know that?_ "

" _I don't know? That similarity of him taking off like this and me not being able to find him. That should have been the first clue._ " Rangiku sighed. " _His ability to stay still has actually gotten worse since the war with the Quincy's. I want to know what's going on in that head of his, but that child never shares how he's feeling about anything. So I don't know what to do about what's bothering him."_

" _Why not try asking?"_

" _Because his answer will be to say nothing is wrong. That poor child takes on his burdens onto his own shoulder's. That's my fault for never being there for him you know. It made him that way._ "

" _You're thinking to much into things."_ Rangiku brushed away the Zampatuo's comments to the back of her mind before starting into the paperwork on her desk hoping she wouldn't need to go find her small taicho. A soft rain began to fall outside, and when the rain began to pour down she began to seriously worry. Haineko lectured her about going after the boy. " _He needs some time to get back. Plus, if you go looking for him at this point there is no telling where he is._ "

The door finally slid open and the child stepped into the office dripping wet. The busty woman stood up letting her chair scrape across the floor, and hurried over to the boy who didn't know he was shivering. She let her hands touch his shoulders. Her smile twitched as she noticed the wet lock of white hair hanging down in front of Toshiro's beautiful eyes. She tries smiling as she did so, but for some reason she felt her worry was evident.

"Taicho." She watched as the child fidgeted and tried avoiding eye contact. "Sweetheart... where have you been?"

"I..."

Again she worked at brushing the white lock of hair away and for a brief few seconds she found herself smiling at how unruly her son's hair was. " _That's not like Gin._ " She finally said something else outloud. "Hey... you come in here soaking wet, and now you're trying to avoid telling me where you are." The next part pained her as Toshiro suddenly said she – the woman who was his mother – wasn't his mother. " _I really can't blame him as he doesn't know. I wouldn't be surprised if he rejected me._ "

" _I think he's afraid of you rejecting him. I don't think he actually said that because he's annoyed with you. It sounded more like..._ " Haineko hissed suddenly. " _Seriously? Just tell the boy. He's aching for you to be his mother as much as your aching to be his mother. It's seriously time. The relationship between the two of you can heal, but not until after you tell him the truth._ "

" _You're right. It is time._ " The woman thought quickly about how best to broach the subject. "About that... does it really matter whether I am your real mother or not?"

" _Smooth move. Not the best way to go about it._ "

" _Says the person whose been refusing to help me figure this out._ " Something about the child's composure said the comment actually helped contrary to what Haineko said. She pressured the boy then for where he was and finally he told her he'd been over by the Quincies, but couldn't give her an answer why.

" _Are you leaving it at that?_ "

" _I believe him when he says he really doesn't know Haineko._ "

" _Uh-huh_."

Rangiku again ignored her zampaktuo and instead focused on getting the small taicho inside and out of the wet clothing he wore. The young taicho of course protested changing his clothing in the office, but Rangiku's motherly instinct kept telling her to get the child warm as soon as possible. He finally relented when she threatened to change his clothes herself. She leaned against the doorway thinking about everything. " _He is so insecure._ "

" _Aren't most kids that age._ "

" _I think his insecurities are actually worse then most kids his age._ " She heard her young taicho call for help from the couch and she hurried over quite pleased to be helping the boy. When she saw how the uniform dwarfed the young taicho she found herself holding back laughter. One hand kept trying to hold the pants part up, while the other tried holding onto the tie. This task ended up problematic as the boy's fingers were covered by the sleeves.

Rangiku's hands quickly went to work giving the uniform and quick tug here and there before gripping the tie tightly and tying it so it was snug around the boy's waist. She at first thought the smallest uniform was to big compared to his regular uniform, but then remembered how baggy even that uniform was on his small frame. Pinching his small nose and kissing him lightly on the forehead as well as the blush which spread across his cheeks caused a warm fuzzy feeling to envelope her.

It still pained her to see the boy pull away and keep his problems bottled up. It bothered her that he thought she was still drinking like she used to. After finishing a portion of the paperwork she went and sat at the child's side for a few minutes. Toshiro seemed for once quite relaxed, but this wouldn't last. "I wish I had a camera right now."


	5. Ice Against Metal

_Note – I accidentally posted chapter five as chapter four, but didn't realize it until I went to post the next chapter._

 **My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Ice Against Metal_**

The small taicho finally woke up with a crick in his neck and reached up with one hand to rub the stiffness out of his joints. Matsumoto was nowhere to be seen and a slight agitation came over him at not being able to see her. The young taicho felt a nausea hit the pit of his stomach as he remembered seeing Matsumoto fall to the ground after Cang Du dumped her from his cloak. A thin hand reached up to touch his mouth lightly, and he didn't see the food left on the table for him by his fukutaicho.

Toshiro stood up as his hands shook and for a brief second the shaking hands grasped his arms. His small feet pushed against the ground in an attempt to flee only to step on the edge of the uniform he was wearing. The youth let out a curse before grabbing the now dry uniform from the back of the couch and in panic he quickly changed from the oversized uniform to the smaller one before hurrying out of the room knocking the trey of food over. He left his captain's cloak behind.

" _Stop running young master._ "

" _Where's Matsumoto?_ "

" _If you stop and feel for her rieatsu_ _you'll find her._ "

The young taicho blinked a couple of times as he tried slowing down long enough to feel what was around him, but the panicked feeling he felt wouldn't go away no matter how much he tried shaking it. The white haired youth ducked in through a door and found himself in a restroom equipped for males. He stepped over to the white sinks and leaned over as he tried regaining control of his breath. Eventually one thin hand reached out to turn on the sink so he could splash cold water into his face.

Toshiro's body couldn't stop trembling as the cold water dripped from his white strands of hair. His nose involuntarily twitched at the smell which typically accompanied the men's restroom. The boy finally managed a deep sigh and began to push himself up from the sink only to catch a glance of himself in the mirror, and his throat tightened as he recognized the familiar features which looked so much like another person he knew. Involuntarily bile slid up his throat and out into the sink to run down the drain with the water.

" _I wish I could be strong like Matsumoto instead of like him. Fat chance of that as he's my parent and she isn't."_

The door to the bathroom opened, and Toshiro heard tw young males speaking with each other. The voices stopped quickly, and Toshiro turned his head to see the three Quincy starting at him. The looks on their face as they looked at him matched how he felt about himself. The young taicho slowly stood up and braced himself for what the two young Quincy would do to him. The blond haired Quincy narrowed his eyes at Toshiro. "What's a Shinigami doing in Quincy territory?"

The young taicho remained silent as he narrowed his teal eyes at the three. " _Say the wrong thing and there is no telling what they do. Say nothing though..._ "

The silence remained for a few minutes and Toshiro moved slightly so he move easier if he needed to. The young taicho also swallowed without realizing it. The darker haired Quincy glared at Toshiro as his speech slurred. "We should do something to him to send a message."

The blond Quincy made his move and shoved Toshiro in the chest area causing the young taicho to stumble slightly back into the stalls. One hand reached out to touch the metal stall with a couple of fingers so the metal began to frost over slowly. The look in the eyes of the two young Quincy said they weren't pleased to see him. "Are you trying to spy on us?"

"Spy?" Toshiro's teal eyes remained narrow, and he swallowed again.

"Yeah. Spy. You came into the area you Shinigami assigned to us because you don't trust us. Why can't you just leave us alone?"

The young taicho took a deep breath and tried looking away slightly. " _What the hell have I walked into. I may not know why I've come into the Quincy area twice, but it isn't to spy._ "

The metal stall continued to frost over, and some of the frost touched his back as he waited for one of the Quincy to make a move. He didn't know what powers the two Quincy had making the planning of a counter attack problematic. For a third time the boy swallowed, and the tension in the room continued to grow. The door to the bathroom suddenly slammed open with a loud bang causing Toshiro and the two boy's to jump.

The young taicho blinked a couple of times upon seeing a violet haired female step into the room. He swallowed as he felt his cheeks and tips of ears heat up. His throat also tightened up as he watched the female Quincy enter the men's bathroom. The words he chocked out were almost inaudible. "Bambi-chan..."

The two male Quincy looked at Toshiro in horror as the girl pushed her way into one of the stalls. The black haired Quincy stuttered as he looked at the stall the girl entered. "Basterbine... what are you doing?"

"I'm using the restroom."

Toshiro chocked on some spittle as he heard what the girl said. " _It's the men's restroom. Is she crazy?_ "

The blond grabbed the front of the young taicho's uniform and leaned in close to Toshiro's ear so only the young taicho could hear him. "How come you're acting all familiar with Basterbine? She hates it when people call her that."

Two teal eyes blinked a couple of times as his mouth opened. " _What does he mean?_ "

" _You called the girl Bambi-chan. I would call that being familiar._ "

" _Well I certainly don't have an answer. Maybe I'm just on edge because of... that. That thing I'm thinking of._ " The toilet flushed and the girl stepped out of the stall. The door clattered shut while she stood between the two boys. The dark haired male looked at her with wide eyes. "Basterbine... you do know this is..."

The young taicho quickly flinched when a loud explosion went off in the stall. The frost which extended from his hand quickly spread out across the rest of the stalls. He turned his head to see water leaking out from the stall the girl just used. " _Did she just blow up a toilet? Why?_ "

The blond haired Quincy turned to look at the girl. "Basterbine..."

Toshiro took a deep breath as he looked at the three Quincy. " _They want to say something to her, but they're also afraid of her. And what the hell is up with her? This is the men's restroom._ " He took a deep breath. "Why did you come into the men's restroom?"

"I felt something familiar and then had to go to the bathroom. This was closer."

The young taicho felt bile come to his throat again, but swallowed it back down. " _This was closer? Is she some kind of idiot."_

The girl reached up to twist a lock of hair in her fingers in the same manner Rangiku did. The blond haired Quincy turned to the girl. "We have a Shinigami here..."

The female Quincy turned her head to look at Toshiro and her violet eyes widened. "Shiro-chan."

"Um..." Toshiro took a deep breath before looking away.

The blond haired Quincy's mouth curled up. "Basterbine? Why are you acting familiar with a Shinigami?"

"Shinigami?" The girl blinked a couple of times.

"Seriously. Why are the two of you acting so familiar? You two aren't crushing on each other?" The blond haired Quincy sounded like he wanted to spit on the ground, but instead found himself restraining himself.

"Ew... no."

"We..." Toshiro took a breath. "One of your own turned both of us into zombies. That's when we met."

The girl's violet eyes blinked a couple of times. "That's not when we first met. You're also not a Shinigami. You're a Quincy." The young taicho felt his eyes quickly widen as he looked at the other three, and he felt his chest tighten up. The two male Quincy twisted their heads around to look at girl in utter shock as she blinked a couple of times. "What? It's true."

Toshiro swallowed and averted his eyes as he felt the blond boy loosen his grip on his clothing. "It can't be true."

The white haired youth felt a sudden flare of fiery rieatsu from the girl. "What do you mean it isn't true? You and I were born here in Soul Society!"

"No, I wasn't." The young taicho took a deep breath. "I died on a plain of ice and came to Soul Society."

He then quickly flash stepped away from them through the doors. His zampaktuo spoke to him. " _Why did you repeat that lie you've always told yourself? You believe Ichimaru Gin's your father, and that means you would have been born in Soul Society._ "

" _I'm a Shinigami, not a Quincy. If..._ " Toshiro swallowed hard when he thought of what Matsumoto might think of all of this.


	6. Untold Truths

The strawberry blond fukutaicho moved away from sitting next to the small child when she felt she captured the moment clearly in her mind. Somehow she managed to finish the paperwork before heading to the division kitchens in order to make something for her small taicho when he woke up. She sat down near him hoping to be there when he woke up, but a message came requesting help from someone in their division. Rangiku let out a sigh as she went to take care of the request rather then wake up her small taicho.

The feeling of relief fell over Rangiku when she finished the request. She headed back to the tenth division offices so she could see the small taicho – her son. She slipped into the room wondering if the boy was still napping only to freeze when she saw the blanket and over sized uniform on the floor. The corners of her mouth twisted down upon seeing the small haori still draped over the back of the couch. She headed towards the couch to pick up the uniform to only see the trey of food scattered onto the floor.

The fukutaicho stepped over to the couch and sat down while her hands grasped each other and her jaw tensed up. " _He's running again._ "

" _Come on? Twice in one day? That's not like him."_

" _That's my point. It isn't like him. I have to wonder what is setting him off like this. If he's having some kind of PSTD from the recent events then perhaps I need to insist he see Isane."_

" _He won't go. Plus... it might not be some PSTD. It might not even be related to the war with the Quincy. It may have been something which has been bothering him for some time now and he's simply had enough. Give him some time and he'll come back. He'll need you like he always ha_ _s."_

" _Taicho doesn't need me. I've done nothing for him._ " Rangiku let out a sigh before pushing herself up to clean up the mess. The next task was to go to the kitchen to make her small taicho something new to eat, but something crashed into her causing her to pause.

Someone wrapped their arms around her waist. Her hands reached up to touch a soft head of white hair as she felt her small taicho's face press into her. His grip tightened. "Taicho?"

" _I told you he would be coming back, and you didn't believe me._ "

" _That wasn't it. He always comes back. This doesn't mean I shouldn't worry about him. Look at him now. He normally wouldn't hug me like this._ " Rangiku took a deep breath and ran her fingers lightly through the locks of white hair. "Taicho..."

"Matsumoto." The boy buried his face deeper into Rangiku's embrace.

"What ever is the matter?" The woman listened for the boy's response. "Where were you?"

She felt the small taicho freeze up and one of her hands reached down to rub between his shoulder blades. The boy finally pulled back with a sigh and sat down on the couch while pulling one knee up to his chin. One small hand touched his forehead. "Somewhere?"

The woman sat down next to the small taicho. "I know I've never really have helped you, but I'm willing to listen."

Rangiku watched as the boy flinched. Toshiro turned his head so he could look the woman in the eye. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you can feel free to talk to me."

"No. What do you mean you've never helped me?"

"I've never done anything for you."

"That's not true." The small boy sat up as he looked at Rangiku.

"Yes it is."

"Matsumoto..." The boy took a deep breath as he leaned against the back of the couch. "I wouldn't be alive because of you."

" _I know that. I gave birth to you._ " Rangiku opened up her mouth to tell the boy the truth, but Toshiro beat her to the punch.

"I mean... you found me all those years ago and told me I needed to join the academy. I don't know what would have happened to me or even granny had you not found me that day. That's also not the only time you've saved my life. I honestly owe you a lot Matsumoto."

" _From the mouth of babes. He's telling you what I've been trying to tell me._ "

" _I'm not sure if that's really what you've been trying to tell me. Usually you've been trying to put me down about everything._ "

" _Have not._ "

Rangiku looked away. "Taicho? Do you remember how we talked about whether I'm your real mother or not matters?" She waited for an answer and when it didn't come she tried speaking up again. "Well..."

"Well what?" Toshiro's comment caused the woman to turn her head to look at the boy. She watched as he swallowed and then shook his head. "My answer to you is that it does matter. It does matter to me whether you are my mother or not."

The female fukutaicho tensed up. "But..."

"I'm not saying you can't take care of me. I mean... I want that." The child taicho stood up. "I can't though..." The young taicho's eye began to look around the room and his breath drew short. Rangiku found herself reaching out to grab his thin wrist as he tried to bolt from the room.

"Wait. Finish your thought."

The small taicho relaxed for a bit. "To me it does matter whether you're my mother or not. I don't know how to explain that better then that other then to say this is a subject I'm not sure I really wish to talk about."

" _So I can't tell him that I'm his mother just yet._ "

" _Nope. Did you really think it would be this easy?_ "

" _You were saying it would be easy._ "

" _I said it would be easy if you just came out and tell him, but you didn't do that._ " Rangiku took a deep breath. "What about where you were? Is that a subject we can talk about?" The woman watched as Toshiro turned his head so he could look at her again. "You did say it is all right for me to care for you did you not?"

She watched as the young taicho swallowed again. He turned his head to look at the wall. "Yeah. I did. I was over where the Quincy live again."

Rangiku's eyes widened. "Taicho... why do you go over there?"

"I don't know."

"But something ended up upsetting you. I don't think you should go over there."

"Are you trying to give me an order?" Toshiro's voice suddenly straightened.

"No. Just a suggestion. If it upsets you much then perhaps you should avoid that area. At least for now."

"I'll try. It's not as if I tried to go over there in the first place."


	7. Open Communications

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Open Communication_**

Rangiku thought about her small taicho's words carefully after she let him slip away. She continued to sit on the couch thinking carefully about what she should do about the situation with her small taicho. She wanted to make everything better for the white haired child, but nothing came to mind. She eventually got up to finish the paperwork. When she finished the paperwork she headed to the kitchen to prepare some food for her young taicho.

She walked to the room with the trey in her hands. She knocked on the door with one hand and a mutter was heard from inside of the room telling her to come in. She opened the door to see the child taicho sitting on his bed. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs while his chin rested upon the top of his knees as he stared at the wall. "If you've come to tak about it Rangiku the answer's no."

"No. I just came to see how you're doing and brought you something to eat. I have some things to do." The woman watched as the boy moved slightly so that he no longer clutched his knees. A frown spread across his face. "Wait? What ever is the matter?"

"Where are you going to go Rangiku?"

The fukutaicho of the tenth division took a deep breath. "You're worried about me leaving?"

Toshiro swallowed visibly before looking at the ground. "I'm worried about knowing where you are."

"I see." Rangiku stepped over to the small taicho and sat down by him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the boy scoot over to the head of the bed to get away from her. She let out a sigh as the boy leaned up against the wall. "I know that subject is off limits, but how about telling me why you're worried about not knowing where I am?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know."

The young taicho's voice strained. "Look. I don't know why. I don't know why I'm worried about not knowing where you are anymore then I know why I keep going over to the Quincy area."

The woman leaned back on the palms of her two hands. "Why don't we try to figure that out?"

She turned her head to see the boy's eyebrow's shoot up. Toshiro let out a light laugh. "Hold on. I don't have any clues in regards to the Quincy and why I'm going over there. I honestly don't."

Rangiku reached up one hand to touch the boy's head. For some reason she knew he was lying, and that he knew something. "I got that. I'm talking about the fact you want to know where I am."

"I know. I wander off and don't let you know where I am going. That's rather ironic."

"I'm not worried about that. It's my job to worry about where you are. It's not though your job to worry about where I am." She watched as the small taicho suddenly looked her in the eye as his mouth twisted down into confusion. She let out a laugh. "What?"

"Isn't it my job as your taicho?"

The strawberry blond felt the corners of her mouth twist up into a smile. "I guess you could say that is a part of your job. I think your job is more along the lines of keeping track of your subordinates for work purposes. We're talking about something else entirely."

She watched as Toshiro moved into the position he was sitting in when she first came in. One are became relaxed at his side while his head tilted to the side as he carefully thought about what she said. After a few minutes he spoke up in a rather calm manner. "What you say makes sense. Why is it your job to worry about me?"

Rangiku froze then and saw the boy's eyes widened. " _I revealed something I shouldn't have._ "

"Matsumoto?"

"Well..." The woman turned her head around. "Technically I'm your legal guardian."

The fukutaicho of the tenth waited for a negative reaction from the boy. The sound of his voice after a few minutes indicated he was calming down. "That again makes sense." A sigh from Toshiro caused Rangiku to turn her head to see her small taicho was thinking some more. "I guess then the reason I'm worried is because you are technically my legal guardian. What would happen say something were to happen to you or for some reason you were no longer my legal guardian?"

The woman reached up to twist a strawberry blond lock as she thought carefully about what the boy said. She leaned back again on her palms and looked up at the ceiling. "What would happen?" Rangiku looked up at the ceiling. "I've not thought much about that, but I guess I should think about what will happen to you."

"It's not about what will happen to me."

Rangiku blinked a couple of times before looking at the small taicho. "It's not?"

"No. I have quite a few people to take care for me if something happens to you."

Relief washed over Rangiku as she looked back up at the ceiling. "Yes. There are quite a few people who will take care of you." She felt her shoulder relax allowing her to look at the boy. "What then are you worried will happen?"

Toshiro stared off into space for quite a bit of time. The boy tilted his head finally. "I don't know. I guess I could say it's a feeling of disconnection. I don't want to feel that way."

"Disconnection?" The fukutaicho of the tenth leaned forward. "Have you ever felt this way before?"

"Yeah. I'd say I have."

"When?"

"Recently." The boy's voice strained indicating he no longer felt relaxed.

Rangiku stood up letting out a sigh. "I see this conversation is upsetting you so we'll continue talking about it later."

"Wait? Why are you leaving? Where are you going?"

The woman turned her head to look at the child. "I'm leaving so you can rest and relax. We've got a long day at work tomorrow. As for where I'm going... I'm going to try and figure out some things."

"Yes. But where are you going?"

Rangiku paused as she heard her son's voice suddenly strain. She turned her head to look at the boy to see he tensed up even more. He even moved forward slightly. "Going? I don't know yet?"

"Not the Quincy?"

The woman took a deep breath as she saw Toshiro swallow as if he was guilty of something. "Taicho? Did something happen while you were over by the Quincy."

"Nothing..."

"Nothing?"

"I might have frozen something."

"That it?"

"A toilet ended up blown up. That wasn't me though. That was someone else."

"Is the reason you don't want me to go over there because you don't want me finding out?"

"Maybe."

"I just figured out didn't I?"

"Sort of." The boy let out a sigh before flopping down onto the bed. "Can you promise me you won't go over there?"

Rangiku felt her eyes go up. "No. I can't promise I won't go over there. You do realize you're just making me more interested in going over there?"

Toshiro let out a sigh and covered his eyes. "I guess so."

A smile crept across the woman's face as she reached out to touch the small taicho's shoulder. "You know something?"

"I know a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I can read your mind."

A laugh escaped her lips. "I simply want you to know the conversation we had went well."

The child taicho uncovered his eyes and looked at her. "Really? That's..." Toshiro's head flopped back onto the bed. "I don't get it. How is this conversation different from our usual conversations?"

"You're actually being more open with me then you usually are?" Rangiku watched as one of his eyebrows went up at this comment.

"Is that really a good thing? I mean..." The young taicho looked away. "... I can't imagine being open in ones conversation with the Quincy is a good thing."

"That..." The strawberry blond started to let out a sound of frustration, but then simply frowned and shook his head. "Don't worry about that. In fact, don't worry about anything right now. Just relax."

Rangiku let out a sigh before slipping through the door closing her small taicho's door behind her.


	8. Static Relationships

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Static Relationships_**

"I died on a plain of ice and came to Soul Society."

The violet haired Quincy stared after the young Shinigami as he took off. She folded her arms across her chest and didn't take notice of the strange icy pattern which spread across the bathroom stalls from where the boy was, nor did she notice the pattern broken up from the flare of her own reiatsu. The two male Quincy continued to stare after the white haired Shinigami. The black haired Quincy spoke in his slurred speech. "Who was that?"

"I told you Weizoi. He's my brother." Bambietta's words caused a short silence to fall over the bathroom. A set of violet eyes rolled back into the back of the girl's head.

"He said he wasn't your brother." The blond haired Quincy's mouth twisted down into a frown.

"Seriously. The two of you so dumb. You're lucky to be alive." The violet haired Quincy opened up one of the stalls and tossed in another one of her bombs and let the door close. A loud explosion soon followed and more water leaked out.

"No. You're just nutters." The lighter haired youth backed away a few steps

Bambietta turned her head to look at the boy. "What's the matter Thoumeaux? You used to never flinch around me. Is it really true that person in the twelfth division actually made you a body for that brain of yours?"

"Shut up. If you're not crazy then why are you in the boy's bathroom blowing up toilets?"

"I had to use the restroom. I was already following his rieatsu so I went ahead and headed in this direction. Blowing up toilets are fun. Plus..." Bambietta twirled a lock of her hair around a finger. "... you guys don't need toilets. You guys have those weird things on the wall." A sudden thought crossed her mind and she stopped twisting the strand of hair around her finger. "You two weren't trying to pick on my brother were you?"

The two male Quincy's flinched and even the blond began to speak abnormally. "No... no. We we're just wondering why a Shinigami was here in the Quincy area."

"Because he's not a Shinigami. My brother is a Quincy."

Nianzoi frowned as his arms hung limp at his side. "Why was he dressed as a Shinigami then?"

The corners of Bambietta's mouth twisted down. She opened up a third door and tossed a bomb into the toilet. "... 'cause he's brainwashed."

The door slammed open and she headed out of the door of the men's room just as a loud bang went off. She stopped short upon seeing Bazz-B leaning up against something. "What are you up to?"

The girl's violet eyes narrowed. "Nothing."

"I heard three loud explosions come from this direction and you just walked out of the men's room." The man's mouth twisted down as he looked at the girl. "That's the only community bathroom we have in the area."

"You guys don't need the toilets. As I told Weizoi and Thoumeaux..." Bambietta took a deep breath. "You guys don't need it."

"You do realize guys still have to go number two right?"

"So?" Bambietta glared at the man. "Why is that an important thing to know?"

"For some reason I don't think it's a good idea to explain to you why that's an important thing to know. There is no telling what you would do with that information." Bazz-B continued to glare at the girl. "Seriously though. I know you. What are you really up to?"

"Nothing." The violet haired Quincy used hirenkyaku to move away from the place in order to avoid the answer. She stopped short in front of a building and stood their frowning. After a few minutes the girl headed into the household and headed to one of the rooms in the back. Her small hand slid the door open with a slam.

"Go away Bambietta."

The violet haired Quincy stood in the door way with her legs spread and her hands on her hip. Her mouth twisted up into a frown as she glared at the room's occupant. A light haired female lay on the bed in the room on her back running with her head facing neither the headboard of the foot of the bed. Her hands stretched out towards the ceiling holding a copy of Vivi above her. Her feet hung over the edge with cotton balls between her toes as she let her nail polish dry.

The violet haired female moved into the room and flopped onto the bed beside the older girl. The light haired Quincy's eyes which were once moving as she read the fashion magazine suddenly stopped. "Listen you little shit face. I told you to go away."

Bambietta simply turned over onto her stomach and began to kick her feet. "I saw Shiro-chan, but he says he's not my brother or a Quincy."

Candice's eyes widened, and then her head twisted to the side so she could stare at the girl. "What did you say."

"Shiro-chan's been brainwashed by the Shinigami."

The light haired Quincy let out groan and her magazine slapped to her side as she sat up. "Seriously? I thought we talked about this a long time ago. You don't _have_ a brother."

"Bazz-B says I do."

"Bazz-B..." Candice's head twisted slightly so she was looking at the wall farthest from the door. "Bazz-B was just trying to placate you."

"Was not! Do you want me to blow your head up!" Bambietta pushed herself up. She twisted around so she was sitting against the wall with her arms crossing her chest. Her mouth twisted into a pout. "I seriously came to you for help."

The light haired Quincy's head twisted back to the small female. "You of all people are asking for help?"

"I want my brother back."

"You what?"

Candice let out a sigh as Bazz-B appeared in the doorway. "She thinks she has a sibling again. Can you please tell her that her imaginary friends aren't real?"

The Mohawked Quincy leaned forward as his hands gripped the sides of the doorway. "Say what? Basterbine Bambietta... I thought we talked about this."

"He's real. Ask stupid Thoumeaux and Weizoi. They saw him." Bambietta slid down against the wall as she continued to sulk.

The light haired female quickly reached out to grab the violet haired girl's ear. "This wouldn't be because you got Gremmy to make your imaginary friend to appear."

The smaller female slapped the hand on her ear away. "Of course not. They don't believe Shiro-chan's my brother either."

Bazz-B let go of the doorway and turned so he was leaning up against the door frame. Candice folded her arms across her chest. "Can you tell her she's lost it? Can you also leave and take her with you? This is my room. She has her own."

Bambietta's cheeks puffed out and her hands clenched. She quickly turned on the older girl and began to pound Candice with her fists as she proceeded to yell. Bazz-B let out a sigh as he stepped into the room to grab the younger female to pull her off of Candice before shoving her out of the room and slid the door open. "Seriously... why can't the two of you just get along?"

"Because you and I don't get along." The female leaned against the wall. "Didn't I tell you to get out of my room?" Candice remained silent for a few minutes before turning her head to look at Bazz-B. "What? It's not as if anyone else was there with her, Gremmy and Nianzoi. Not unless Gremmy and Nianzoi are playing a trick on her. If that's the case then you need to talk to them and not me."

Bazz-B leaned up against the door. "Neither one of those two can use their powers. The taicho of the twelfth division did something. There was another person there. I'd recognize that Shinigami's ice anywhere."

The scowl on Candice's face suddenly softened. "I'm confused. What Shinigami?"

"His name is Hitsugaya Toshiro. He's the captain of the tenth division." The man continued to lean against the door.

The girl pulled one of her feet up to check her nails. "This doesn't explain why Bambi-chan thinks he's her brother. She doesn't have a brother. Aren't the Shinigami captains our age?"

"That brat is far from qualifying as an adult. I think he's the same height as her."

Candice shook her head as she removed the cotton balls from between her toes. "She doesn't have a brother. I would know. I've known her ever since she was retrieved as an infant. Your retrieval group only brought her back. There was never a male child."

"We never brought back a male child because I killed him."

The silence in the room was choked with a sudden static filling the room as Candice stood up with only one foot done. She walked over to Bazz-B and poked him in the chest as the static continued to accumulate. "Are you telling me...? Is the reason you're still in my room because you feel guilty?"

"I thought I did."

"What?"

"Don't speak of this to anyone else. I need to do some digging, so stay out of this." The male Quincy grabbed her hand and forced it away in a painful manner. The man slid the door open and then slammed it shut after leaving.


	9. Strained Comfort Zone

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _S_ _trained Comfort Zone_**

Two eyes drifted up to the roof just outside of the small taicho's room. Rangiku leaned up against the door as her mind contemplated the conversation she just had with her son. " _Did he really say he opened up to the Quincy?_ "

" _Your small taicho's never open with anyone about the way he feels or the way he's thinking. Not unless he feels what he has to say is majorly important._ "

" _That's rather changed since Ichigo's entered the picture. That child..._ " Rangiku's eyes closed as her head tilted down and she swallowed back the panic rising in her chest. " _Toshiro's aware he's not supposed to be open with certain people like those Quincy and yet he told me he spoke to them._ "

" _He didn't say anything of the sort. He simply said he didn't think being open with them is a good idea."_

A groan escaped the woman's mouth. _"That child's always been vague when it comes to telling the truth about something he doesn't want to talk about. He's not going to tell me if he's said anything to them he shouldn't. He's just going to say he thinks he shouldn't be._ "

" _That's true. He's a very odd child._ "

Rangiku pushed herself away from the door having made up her mind about what she needed to do. She walked at a slow pace through the street as she continued to thinking back on the conversation with her small taicho. Her demeanor changed as she drew close to the place allocated to the Quincy. A few Quincy on the outskirts glared at her and the other Shinigami which passed by. " _Not that I can blame them. We're the victors in war yet again_."

A shiver ran down her spine as she walked past some of the Quincy into their territory. " _Truth be told we're lucky to be alive. Giving them their own area must feel like a slap in the face. They have their own area, but they're not allowed to change anything to their liking without prior permission._ " Rangiku continued to walk while looking around the place. " _The streets are layed out the same, but that doesn't mean I can find anything."_

"Hey..."

Rangiku stopped short and turned her head to see she was being followed by a few male Quincy. Her eyes blinked a couple of times as she looked at the men. The fukutaicho of the tenth could smell sake even from where she was. " _What do they want?_ "

"Want to have some fun?"

The strawberry blonde's eyes suddenly narrowed. "No thank you."

"Are ya dissin' us 'cause we're Quincy lady? You some kind of stuck up snob."

The fukutaicho of the tenth turned around and waved her hand at the two men. "Nope. I'm dissing your obviously drunk perverts."

The rieatsu in the area quickly fluctuated as the continued to approach. One of Rangiku's hands went to her zampaktuo just in case. The two men uttered curse words calling her unsavory names she wouldn't want the innocent ears of her young taicho to hear. They also said something about how her clothing advertized what she really wanted. With her thumb she cracked the blade out slightly just as the rieatsu changed again.

Something about the fiery change in rieatsu caused the men's eyes to go wide before they turned to look at each other. A sound came from the roof as someone walked on the clay titles, and Rangiku's eyes darted up despite the fact she knew she needed to keep an eye on the two men. A flash stepped off the roof and landed with a loud bang in between her and the two men. The person let out a tisking sound from his lips as he stood up.

Rangiku's eyes widened as she took in the familiar face. "You..."

The man with the Mowhawk looked at her for a few minutes before turning to look at the two men. "Scram."

The fukutaicho of the tenth crossed her arms as she watched the two men take off running. "I didn't need your help."

"A fight between Quincy and Shinigami would only cause problems. I'd think you'd know that." The man turned his head to look at her before hiking his thumb at his chest. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah. You're the monster who burned my taicho."

The man flinched and pulled his shoulders back slightly. "Wh..." One hand reached up to run through his Mowhawk. "You aren't going to forgive me for that? It was battle you know."

Rangiku pointed her thin index finger at the man. "That's just the way men think! It doesn't matter whether it was battle are not. You still hurt my precious taicho!"

"It's not you who needs to forgive me but that precious taicho of yours." The man stepped closer as his tone of voice also began to rise. "Truth be told your precious taicho had no problem talking to me earlier today."

" _Wait... he's the Quincy taicho opened up to._ " The female fukutaicho quickly swallowed before taking a step back to the wall.

"Why the hell are you dressed like that?"

A sudden panic came over the female as her hands reached up to try and pull the front of her uniform shut. Rangiku felt her cheeks heat up as she glared at the man. "That's none of your business!"

"It is my business." The man jammed his hands into his pockets.

"It's to hot otherwise." Two thin hands tightened on her robes as she tried pulling them closer.

"That makes sense. You and I both have fire based powers."

A sudden panic hit the woman's chest and she wrapped her arms protectively around her ample bust. Her cheeks heated up even more. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

"You really don't remember me do you?"

" _What?_ " Rangiku's eyes widened only to look at the ground soon after. " _He's a complete stranger, so I shouldn't be getting embarrassed in front of him._ " Her head finally snapped up. "What? Is that some kind of lame pick up line?"

Two blue eyes watched as the man let out a sigh and ran a hand through his Mowhawk. "Seriously... you and that kid. He thought I was interested in dating you as well."

The fukutaicho of the tenth division's cheeks puffed out as the heat from embarrassment quickly left her cheeks. "Seriously? He talked to out about that? That was none of his business to talk to you about?"

"I think it was his business." The man's words interrupted what Rangiku was saying.

"Hey! I was also going to say I wasn't sure whether you were trying to insult me or not!"

The man's eyes widened, and he stared at her for a few minutes. The fukutaicho of the tenth turned on her heals despite the fact common sense said other wise to leave. She felt the man's calloused hand grab her shoulder. "Wait. I didn't say you weren't beautiful. Let's just say you're not my type?"

Rangiku spun around and slapped his hand away. She could feel her throat strain. "What? Is my taicho you're type? If you lay a hand on him I'll..."

The man reached out to grab the hand which slapped his hand away. She felt his hand tighten painfully around her wrist as he pulled her closer so they were face to face. "Listen to me very carefully because I'm only going to tell you this once. I _don't_ swing that way. When I say you're not my type I seriously mean you're _not_ my type of girl. Get that through your thick skull. Actually leave and don't ever come back here. It's dangerous."

The anger welled up again and Rangiku's other hand quickly moved. The fukutaicho heard a loud resounding slap. The grip on her wrist loosened enough she could slip her other hand away, and she saw a mark left on the man's cheek. She pointed her finger at the man. "Don't you _ever_ tell me what I _can_ or _can't_ do! I'm not some damsel in distress who needs some guy to sweep her off her feet! Telling me not to come here is useless because I _have_ to come after my young taicho."

"You slapped me." The man reached up a hand to touch his cheek. "You really...

"I really don't want to hear any more from you, so don't tell me to keep my taicho away. I can't control him. I'd certainly keep him away if I could as it's the fault of you Quincy that he's the way he is! Not only did _you_ hurt him all of you took away many of the people that child holds precious! I only came because I'm trying to find out why he keeps running here when he's upset."

"I..."

"Don't! I don't want to talk to you." Rangiku spun on her heals and headed back to the tenth division using flash step. She arrived at the tenth division and let out a shudder as her hands went to her arms. " _Someone's been here._ "

She carefully scanned the room looking for anything out of place. Haineko took the time to lecuture her. " _There are no traces of reiatsu. You wanted answers, but you didn't stay? How dumb is that?_ "

" _Shut up_."

" _You're just afraid of the answers you'll find._ "

" _No..._ " Rangiku looked at the back of the couch. "Where's taicho's haori?"

" _Perhaps he came back for it? He may not have wanted you to know he was here._ "

" _Maybe._ "


	10. Take Me Away

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Take Me Away_**

Candice didn't want her in her room, but what stung worse was nobody believing her when she said she found her brother again.

Bambietta sat on her bed sulking as she glared at the far wall. Thoughts passed through her mind as she contemplated blowing up certain parts of her room, but she held back knowing full well this would get her in trouble with the Shinigami. A voice in the back of her head wouldn't stop nagging. " _You're worried about getting in trouble with the Shinigami? You walked into the men's bathroom and blew up toilets. I'd call that getting in trouble with the Shinigami._ "

The door to Bambietta's room opened and her mouth opened up. "Go away."

"Seriously? Are you still mad at me for telling you to go away?"

The violet haired Quincy's head twisted so she could look at the tall female standing in her doorway with her hands on her hips. "What do you want? Did you come here to make fun of me for having invisible friends again?" The smaller female turned her head away and puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"I want to know how you know this Shiro-chan is your brother."

Bambietta looked at Candice from the corner of her eye. "Why are you now interested? You didn't believe me before."

"I'm curious now because Bazz says he's digging into things. That's not like him. You should know that as well as I do."

The small female turned slightly so she flopped on the bed and spread her limps out wide. "At least he believes me."

"That's not..." The taller female stopped short. "He said something about killing your brother."

The violet haired Quincy sat up. "Are you saying he doesn't believe me? He wouldn't say something like that! He wouldn't _do_ something like that!"

Candice moved into the room to lean up against the wall. "For some reason he believes you enough to doubt he killed your brother."

"That makes no sense. You're just trying to play some kind of game with me aren't you?"

"Do you want to get your brother back from the Quincy or not?" This comment from the older Quincy caused Bambietta's shoulders to hang down, and for the violet haired female to look nervously away. "How do you know it's your brother?"

The violet haired female swallowed before crossing her arms across her chest. "Don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"There's just this..." Bambietta paused for a few minutes. "There is a feeling. I don't know how to describe it. He's my twin though. I think I'd know."

Candice let out a sigh as she pushed herself away from the door. "All right. I honestly don't get it. Let's go see the girls."

"Don't want to."

"Do you want your brother back or not?"

"What do the girls have to do with that?"

"They're going to help us."

"How?"

"Just... let's go meet up. We don't want Bazz-B hearing us."

"Why not?"

"He's mad. He thinks this should be kept hushed up. He's delusional though if he thinks I'm going to let the Shinigami have on more thing."

"You don't care that Shiro-chan is family or not do you?"

"I don't care that you're family either. If he's your twin then he's likely another obnoxious brat like you. My point stands. Are you coming or not? Because I'll do this without you if I have to."

Bambietta pushed herself up from the bed and brushed past Candice. "Fine. Let's go. Gigi can't participate though."

Candice walked behind her as they walked first to Meninas' new home, and then to Liltotto's place. While the first female had no problems meeting up the second wasn't pleased her house was being used as the meeting place. "Why here?"

"We can't meet at our place. Bazz might overheard." The taller light haired Quincy flopped down onto the couch in the living room area while she turned her head to glare at the small kitchen. "Are you really both on your own?"

"It's not as if we have any family."

"What about Cang-Du?" Bambietta piped up as she sat down and crossed her legs in a very unladylike manner.

"Cang-Du?" Liltotto leaned back in the rather large chair. "There was a reason he was executed. The Shinigami should have left him dead. Plus... doesn't he like playing the role of your bodyguard."

"Don't need him to and haven't seen him lately." The violet haired Quincy reached up one hand to twist her violet locks around her finger.

"What exactly are we talking about? Why isn't Gigi here?" Meninas looked around.

"Gigi isn't here because she turned me into a zombie. I'm not exactly pleased with the three of you either as you didn't stop her." Bambietta's violet eyes rolled back into her head. "Plus... Gigi did it to him to."

"What?" Candice turned her head.

"Who?" Liltotto moved to sitting in a position where her legs were crossed.

"Her brother."

The smaller blond took a deep breath. "Bam-bi-chan. I thought we've gone over this with your imaginary friends before. They don't exist."

"Imaginary friends? Why is this the first time I've heard of them? Little kids having imaginary friends is so cute." Meninas picked up a throw pillow from the couch and hugged the pillow to her chest.

"I'm not a little kid. He's not imaginary either."

"Prove it." Liltotto leaned forward into the palm of her hands. Her eyes dulled from utter annoyance.

"Bazz-B believes it to be true." Candice's arms spread across the back of the couch. "He said something about how he'd thought he killed Bambi's brother a long time ago. The Shinigami have him. I'd think you two would want the Quincy to get him back."

The smaller blond let out a sigh indicating her annoyance was growing. "How are we to get him back? Do we even know his name?"

"Shiro-chan." Bambietta blurted the words out.

"We can't go by that!" Liltotto flopped back into the chair and let out a groan. "We need..."

"I know his name. Bazz-B let it slip."

Meninas hugged the pillow tighter. "How will we get him back though?"

A silence fell over the room. Candice raised one eyebrow before leaning forward so her elbows were resting on her knees, and her chin in the palms of her hands. "I want to petition for custody. Since we're family they can't turn me down."

The smaller blond's voice rose suddenly. "Can't turn you down? They certainly can Candice! They're Shinigami after all! They're trying to do anything they can to insult us."

The magenta haired female hugged the pillow even tighter. "We need to do it though. He's one of us."

"Question is how would we go about doing this?"

"Go directly to the head captain to submit some kind of form. Don't let it get bogged down in the mess they're creating for all our requests."

Bambietta's feet suddenly shot out straight before she pushed herself up from the couch to a standing position. "All right. Let's go then."

"Now?" Liltotto's eyes widened.

"Now." Candice pushed herself up from the couch. "You two coming with us or not?"

"I'm coming. I want Bambietta-chan to get her nii-chan back. Or is it otouto-chan?" Meninas continued to hug the pillow.

"He's my twin so nii-chan."

Liltotto rolled her eyes into the back of her head. She stood up and placed her hands behind her head while she followed the other girls. "You guys are crazy."

A few minutes later they found themselves at the first division, and they simply walked into the head taicho's office. A woman stood there and pushed her glasses up. "Why did you just walk into this place?"

Candice ignored the woman and walked over to the head taicho. Bambietta however pushed past her and slammed her hands down onto the desk. "I want my brother."

Kyoraku's smirk deepened as he folded his fingers together. "Your brother."

"You Shinigami brainwashed him to believe he's a Shinigami."

"Excuse me?" The woman pulled her clipboard closer.

Kyoraku waved his hand at the woman. "Don't worry Nanao-chan? I can handle this. I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"You Shinigami..." Candice covered Bambietta's mouth stopping her from talking.

"One of your Shinigami is actually a Quincy. We want him back."

Nanao frowned at the four girls. "You want him back? How do you propose that? You can't make him do something he doesn't want to do."

"This Shinigami's still a child." Candice removed her hand from Bambietta's mouth so she could cross her arms across her chest. "Thus we can claim legal guardianship."

The man leaned back as he looked at the four girls. "Nanao-chan. Can you find the forms?"

The woman's head jerked towards her taicho. "Are you sure?"

"We don't want to strain our relationship with the Quincy."

Liltotto let out a sound of disgust. "What relationship?"

The woman left and brought out the forms. She watched as the girls filled out the forms and handed them back to her taicho before leaving. She watched as her taicho looked at the forms. A frown appeared on his face as he tipped his hat down. "This isn't good."

"What isn't good? This is just some ploy isn't it?" Nanao watched as Kyoraku took something from his desk.

His finger traced down the list. "Basterbine Bambietta. The report on her powers from the fifth and seventh divisions is quite interesting. Her powers are fire based, and her wings of her Vollstandig is like that of a dragon."

Nanao's face quickly paled. "Wait? The Shinigami they're claiming as one of their own? Hitsugaya Taicho."

Kyoraku let the paper touch the desk. "Yes."

"But... he's a Shinigami. His powers are that of a Shinigami."

"It's still possible. Don't ask me to explain how. He doesn't have a clue who his family is."

"What about Rangiku?"

"Don't tell her as of yet. I'm going to be calling a captain's meeting for tomorrow morning. Send out hell butterflies to the remaining taicho, but don't tell them what this is about."


	11. Feeling of Intrapment

**My Sunshine, My Strength  
 _Feeling of Intrapment_**

A flash of black caused the small taicho's head to dart up. His finger reached out to allow the black butterfly to land on his finger as his mouth twisted up. His eyes snapped shut as he heard the message telling him there would be a meeting in the morning. " _Duties. At least that's remained the same._ "

Two bright teal eyes opened up as he looked at the trey of food Rangiku brought him. His zampaktuo spirit spoke in the back of his mind. " _She certainly acts like your mother._ "

" _Will she still act that way if I tell her I'm the son of Ichimaru Gin and that he cheated on her._ " The young taicho began to scoop the food into his mouth. " _I don't know what I would do if she stopped acting like a mother to me. I can't..._ " Toshiro's eyes snapped shut as he savored the food. " _All I know is I found a place to belong with her. I don't know how to tell her that though._ "

" _You'll need to eventually tell her._ "

" _How? That Quincy girl claimed I'm not a Quincy._ " Toshiro finished his food and set the trey on his nightstand table. He changed for bed and set an alarm on his Soul Phone so he could wake up in the morning. He flopped back onto the bed and placed his thin hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and let Hyorinmaru talk to him so he would forget the troubles bothering him.

The alarm went off in the morning, and the young taicho woke up and proceeded to change into his uniform. Toshiro stopped short when he realized the haori was missing. "Wait..." His small hands began to pull uniforms out of his dirty clothes basket and toss them onto the floor as he tried finding his regalia. When he couldn't find the haori he proceeded to look through his closet and his clean clothes letting them end up on the floor as well.

His bony fingers reached out for one of the books on his book shelf when his zampaktuo pointed out the fact the haori wouldn't be there. " _Think of the last place you had it._ "

" _The last place I saw my haori was in my office._ " Toshiro stood up and headed to the door so he could head to the office. His thin hand slid the door open, and what he saw caused him to flinch. Standing in front of him was the dark haired Quincy who was paired up with with the adult Quincy he ran into earlier in the day. "You..." The boy's bright teal eyes looked down to see the man was holding his haori. "What..."

Toshiro's thin hands reached out to grab the haori the man was holding before using flash step to get away from the man. He carefully pulled the haori over his shoulders and glanced back to see the man move to the roof. " _What the hell is he doing?_ "

" _I believe he's following you._ "

" _What ever for?"_ Toshiro stopped short. He stood there watching the man carefully. A shiver ran down his spine. " _It feels like I forgot something from yesterday._ "

" _Yesterday you were panicking so it is understandable there were things you didn't notice that you would normally notice._ "

" _Just because I was panicking didn't mean I didn't notice it. If I stop and think hard enough I might be able to figure out what I missed._ "

" _Would you be able to do that with_ _what's bothering you right now young master? You also don't have much time. The captain's meeting is early this morning._ _You should get something to eat before you go to the meeting._ "

Toshiro held back a sigh and instead pushed his lips together. The child taicho spun on his heals and headed towards the division kitchens. A couple of times the boy stopped and looked over his shoulder and saw the Quincy following him out of the corner of his eye. Nobody else was around that place as he headed to the kitchen. He could sense the man coming back out of the kitchen after he finished the task. For some reason he wanted to find Rangiku, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind.

The young taicho headed to the first division and tried to ignore the fact he was being followed by the Quincy. Thinking about that particular man following him simply caused a shiver to run down his spine. Toshiro arrived at the first division hall and stepped in. The young taicho took a deep breath as he went to stand in his position. " _Yamamoto... gone. Unohana... gone. Komamura... incapacitated. Ukitake... gone._ "

"You're here early."

Toshiro turned his head to see Kyoraku standing in the door way. "Good morning."

"You don't look like you're having a good morning." The tip of the man's fingers touched the rim of his hat lightly. "How are you doing Hitsugaya Taicho?"

"Doing?" The white haired youth looked at the wall. "I don't see why that matters. I don't see my situation as any worse then anybody else."

"Really? You're the youngest of the taicho. You're also still a child so the way this emotionally effects you is going to be different from us adults." The man started to step past the young taicho.

Toshiro's bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times before a thin hand reached out to tug the head taicho's sleeve causing Kyoraku to stop and look at him. "Don't you miss Ukitake to?"

"I'm missing a friend. You're missing a mentor." The man watched the young taicho carefully. "This isn't to say I'm not grieving."

The young taicho watched as the man stared at him for a few minutes before moving to the spot near the front of the room. The boy's eyes widened as he observed the behavior of the adult in front of him. " _It's as if he wanted to say something to me, but is holding back for some reason._ "

" _It may be something he can't tell you because of protocol."_

The white haired taicho folded his arms across his chest and one of his feet twisted as he waited for the other taicho to arrive. Every so often he would look up to the front of the meeting hall, and up at the roof. " _Is he still there? I don't get why he is following me. I honestly don't like it._ "

Kyoraku acted in his usual manner when the taicho got into the room. "I know not much time's passed since the wars ended, but there is something we need to discuss regarding the Quincy."

Toshiro moved so his other foot was father forward, and his shoulders leaned back. " _That Quincy wouldn't be following me because he's wanting to find out what ever Kyoraku is going to talk about?_ "

Soifon let out a sigh. "They aren't making any unrealistic demands are they?"

"If anything the demands coming through the sixth division have been holding back on the things they are needing." Byakuya continued with his train of thought. "It's almost as if they're afraid their requests will be rejected."

Kyoraku's eyebrows rose up quickly as his mouth twisted down. "The Quincy came to my office yesterday were very upfront with what they wanted." The young taicho flinched as he realized suddenly the man was looking at him. The head taicho looked away before continuing his speech. "A few Quincy came forward claiming one of our Shinigami is actually one of their own."

Toshiro felt a shiver run down his spine. " _Claiming... does he mean that girl and a few others... about what she said yesterday?_ "

Soifon's eyebrow's darted up as she looked at the head captain as her arms crossed her chest. "Are they claiming there is a spy among us?"

The young taicho felt his skin break out in a sweat. " _I'm not one of them._ "

"No." Kyoraku moved his hat slightly. "They're claiming one of the Shinigami is their missing kin."

The child's body quickly tensed up as words came out of his mouth quickly. "I died on a plain of ice. I wasn't born in soul society." The young taicho flinched when he realized the eyes of the other captains were suddenly on him. His bright teal eyes darted to the ground. "I..."

"You don't have to explain Hitsugaya Taicho. I'm a bit surprised you already know the Quincy are referring to you." Kyoraku's frown suddenly turned into a smile. "I guess that makes things easier."

The second division's frown deepened. "Easier? They're trying to take Hitsugaya Taicho away. They're claiming he's actually a Quincy."

The young taicho felt his chest tighten. "I'm not a Quincy! I'm a Shinigami!"

Kurotsuchi let out a sound of disgust as he kept his arms folded across his chest. "Are you sure of that? The look on your face says you doubt your own words. We of course could run some kind of tests which will tell us if the Quincy are telling the truth. They will tell us if you are related to them, but that's only if one of these Quincy is a direct blood relation."

The sweat on his skin became worse. "Test?"

Byakuya's voice caused the young taicho to turn his head towards the sixth division captain. "Hitsugaya Taicho? Do you suspect any person of being a blood relation to you?"

"I..." The young taicho looked quickly at the ground. "I told you. I died on a plain of ice and came to Soul Society. I wasn't born here."

A silence fell over the room. Shinji let out a sigh as he worried his short hair with one hand. "Hitsugaya Taicho doesn't have any known blood kin."

"That simply means he doesn't know who his blood relations are." Byakuya's comment caused Toshiro to look away.

Soifon shook her head as she continued to frown. "Then he shouldn't be held accountable for their actions."

Toshiro swallowed. " _Does that mean I should be held accountable for Gin's actions because I know he's my father._ "

" _I don't think that is what she meant young master._ "

Soifon turned to the head taicho. "You aren't going to hand over one of our own just because of this claim. Even if it does turn out he's related to them, which I honestly doubt is true, they can't claim him as one of their own after all of this time."

The young taicho swallowed. "What ever needs to be done needs to be in the best interest of Soul Society. If there is truth to what they say then me not... let's just say there would be problems."

"That..."

"We don't know if any of this is true or not. Hitsugaya Taicho can go to the twelfth division so Kurotsuchi can run the tests. They're harmless from what I understand and those would be the only tests we would run. All of us should be thinking about what to do though if the situation arises. That's why I called this meeting together."

Toshiro took a deep breath. "Could you not tell my fukutaicho?"

"Shouldn't she know?" Soifon tapped her foot on the ground.

"I _really_ don't want her knowing about this, so don't. Just this one favor."

Kyoraku let out a sigh. "Nanao isn't going to like it, but I consent at this point in time to your request."


End file.
